We awoke early, before even 6 AM, and Chipmunk dressed and ate while I drove the 6 miles out of Boiling Springs back to the trailhead where she had finished the day before. The morning air was cooler and I hoped she would be able to knock out the first part of her hiking day before the wave of heat rolls in around noon.

I hugged and kissed her good bye, confirming that I'd meet her at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy office downtown.

I drove back into town and parked alongside the river that runs through the center of town; I believe it's called "Childrens River". There was a beautiful misty fog that had settled on the surface and it reminded me of that old song, "... smoke on the water". Boiling Springs is a quaint and charming town and I'd love to visit there again.

I headed to Cafe 101 in town where Talker told me there was Wifi and very good breakfast. I ordered a coffee and a bagel and asked if I could plug in my phone and laptop. The waitress showed me where the outlet was but informed me that there was a power outage in the night and that the Wifi might not be working.

It wasn't so I started typing my blog into a document when I looked up to see Uke and Gilgamesh, soon followed by Talker. They all ordered breakfast and were given numbers. Not surprisingly, Uke's was number 1. So, Doreen (Uke's mom), it's official, Uke is #1!

While I typed, I got text messages from "Beans", who had asked if I would drive her and "Vice" into Harrisburg so that they could catch trains back to Michigan for some family time. They had agreed to chip in for fuel so we all met up in town. Talker had also mentioned that he needed to stop at the Carlisle Post office and since it was on the way back, I told him he should hop in, too. I let them all know that I expected Chipmunk around 11 AM and that once she had a break and resumed the trail, I'd be able to head out.

Chipmunk came into town and said she'd like to take an air conditioned ride in the front of the truck with us to cool down. So, we all piled in and drove towards Harrisburg. Along the way, we saw two hikers hitch hiking with a sign for Duncannon. I stopped and told them we were headed to Harrisburg and Carlisle and that I'd be willing to drop them there but that (at that time) I didn't know if Duncannon was along the way. They said Harrisburg was good and they got into the back with Talker.

In short order, we arrived at Harrisburg and Vice and Beans hugged me and thanked me for the ride to the Amtrak. I wished them a terrific time with their folks and reminded them to come back to the trail, even if it's hard to leave home again. They smiled and said they would. The other 2 Duncannon bound hikers also got out and thanked me and then I pointed the truck to Carlisle. We stopped at the Post Office and Talker ran in only to find that his much needed insoles were not there. He was disappointed but said he would check again at Boiling Springs when we returned.

Once at Boiling Springs, he checked at both the Post Office and the ATC office and was quite happy when he found out they were there. With his new insoles in place, he and Chipmunk decided to hike together out of Boiling Springs towards Carlisle. Later that day, I found the meet up spot early just after it started raining. I was shocked when I saw one very short hiker and one very tall hiker crossing the foot bridge overhead ... it was them and my timing couldn't have been better. I parked under the foot bridge and they came down the muddy trail to busy Route 11.

Talker looked apprehensive about getting into the truck because they were soaking wet. I assured him that it was fine and they both threw their packs in and got in. I drove a short distance to a Dunkin Donuts where we dashed into for coffee and hot chocolate. (A lovely friend of mine, Faye, sent me a bunch of Dunkin Donuts coupons and I broke them out for all kinds of savings! Yeah!)

Both Talker and Chipmunk were hungry and done hiking for the day. I asked if they'd like to grab some grocery store fried chicken and head to a movie. They both liked the idea. I managed to sneak in 3 drinks and a couple of candy snacks, too. (Don't send me your hate mail ... I've been doing this for years and I don't see it changing!)

I snapped this pic and Talker struck a grumpy face which cracked up Chipmunk. The three of us found Pacific Rim to be hysterical! I don't think it was supposed to be a comedy but it was so cheesy and overused cliches by the dozens! We laughed so much that a lady a few rows ahead of us came back and said, "Quiet down. Do you want me to tell the attendant?" I looked at her and said, "Do what you need to do."

About 5 minutes later, the attendant arrived and told us to keep it down. We smiled and agreed and tried to muffle our laughter. Ironically, in a theater of about 60 adults, only 2 or 3 other guys, Chipmunk, Talker and I were the only ones that found the movie ridiculously funny. We all laughed out loud at the same cheesy parts. Oh, well. We had fun!

We invited Talker to stay the night in the camper with us since it was raining again. At first, I thought Chipmunk would let him have her bunk and she'd sleep in my bunk with me. I was wrong. She said, "He's too tall for my bunk. Let him sleep on the floor. I need a good night's sleep if I'm going to hike tomorrow." It didn't seem to be a problem for Talker and so we all took our sleep spots and called it a night. Before I fell asleep, I glanced down at the floor and realized that Talker looks a lot like my son, Captain Oblivious, and how much I missed seeing him. I can't wait 'til we get closer to where he and the Editor live.

If you enjoy reading the story of our adventure, and you’d like to send some “Trail Magic” to Chipmunk, click on the “Donate” button at the upper right corner of today’s blog post. Chipmunk maintains a twitter account: @openlymtngoat where a common hashtag is #GoChipmunk . She (or we) will try to answer any questions you may have about her hike and this family adventure.

Thanks again for all your support,Mama Chip, Papa Chip, Chipmunk and her dog, Chocolate Chip(Tammy, Jay, Neva and Coco)

I so enjoy your blog! Yes, uke is #1! Thanks so much for sharing this adventure!

Reply

Rick Hanson

7/21/2013 11:33:16 pm

Don't let anyone complain to you about sneaking in food to the theaters. They are just jealous because they are horses asses for paying $20 for popcorn and a drink! :)

Reply

Janice

7/22/2013 07:27:08 am

I remember my father taking Ryan, Joel and me to the movies once when we were kids. We snuck stuff in too. Ryan was wearing sweat-pants with elastic around the ankles so they were kind of pouchy at the bottom. He hid a bag of M&M's in there. He rattled when he walked, but nobody stopped us.

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aunt carol

7/22/2013 10:26:30 am

I had fun the other hanging out a the hiker bar with you

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Hope

7/22/2013 03:31:22 pm

I don't care about sneaking food in and I think having a good time is great, but being loud enough to disrupt others and having a flippant attitude about it is juvenile. Not that I think you care. I have been following Chipmunk's journey but your cavalier attitude about disturbing others has ended my journey with you.

Reply

Pentertainment

7/24/2013 12:03:24 am

Settle down Hope! You act as if you have never laughed while in a movie theater. Don't be a Debby Downer blahhhhhhhh. No one

Reply

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